S  B 


I 

;klil     Coffee 


Bureau  of   .Arn.Republi 


•A 'NT 


BUREAU  OF  AMERICAN  REPUBLICS, 


WASHINGTON,   U.   S.    A. 


COFFEE    IN    AMEEIC1. 


METHODS  OF  PRODUCTION 


AND 


FACILITIES  FOE  SUCCESSFUL  CULTIVATION 


IN 


MEXICO,  THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  STATES,  BRAZIL  AND  OTHER 
SOUTH  AMERICAN  COUNTRIES,  AND  THE  WEST  INDIES. 


SPECIAL    BUU.KTIN.  OCTODKR,    189,. 


BUREAU — OF   AMERICAN — REPUBLICS, 

WASHINGTON,    U.    S.    A. 


COFFEE    IN    AMERICA. 


METHODS  OF  PBODUCTION 


AND 


FACILITIES  FOR  SUCCESSFUL  CULTIVATION 


IN 


MEXICO,   THE  CENTRAL   AMERICAN    STATES,   BRAZIL  AND  OTHER 
SOUTH  AMERICAN  COUNTRIES,  AND  THE  WEST  INDIES. 


SPECIAL   BULLETIN.  OCTOBER,    1893. 


;     :     BUREAU     OF     THE     AMERICAN     REPUBLICS, 
>".2    LAFAYETTE    SQUARE,    WASHINGTON,    D.   C.,   U.  S.   A. 


Director.— CLINTON    FURBISH. 
Secretary.— FREPERIC  EMORY. 


: 

• 


COFFEE    IN    AMERICA. 


Throughout  the  world  there  is  a  constant  and  rapid  increase  in 
the  consumption  of  coffee.  Although  there  has  been  a  marked 
increase  in  the  production  of  this  berry  in  Central  and  South  American 
countries,  the  rising  prices  indicate  that  the  supply  is  still  below  the 
demand.  These  facts  have  naturally  turned  attention  to  this  indus- 
try in  those  regions  where  the  coffee  plant  thrives,  and  has  prompted 
many  inquiries  from  persons  seeking  investment  regarding  favorable 
locations,  prices  of  lands  and  general  information  upon  the  subject. 
To  answer  fully  the  many  inquiries  received  at  this  Bureau  on  this 
subject,  is  the  object  of  this  bulletin.  Incidentally,  the  coffee  pro- 
duction of  the  Old  World  is  noted,  but  attention  is  chiefly  directed  to 
the  lands,  climates,  soils  and  other  natural  conditions  of  growth  of 
plant,  methods  of  propagation,  cultivation,  handling  and  marketing 
of  this  product  in  the  countries  on  this  Continent,  to-  which  it  sef^s 
probable  the  world  must  look  for  any  increase  in  the  present  supply. 


SOURCES    OF  SUPPLY. 

The  coffee  plant,  indigenous  to  Asia  and  Africa,  has  found  its 
true  habitat  in  the  New  World,  where  its  production  is  already  many 
times  greater  than  in  the  Eastern  Continent.  Messrs.  Schoffer  &  Co., 
of  Rotterdam,  estimated  the  world's  total  production  in  1884  at 
681,314  tons,  of  which  Brazil  alone  produced  371,429  tons,  or  61,544 
tons  more  than  one-half  the  entire  product.  Java,  Sumatra  and 
Celebes  produced  108,743  tons.  Since  that  time  the  proportion  in 
favor  of  America  has  constantly  and  immensely  increased ;  the 
Old  World  having  hardly  increased  its  production,  while  in  Brazil 
the  crop  in  1892  reached  about  500,000  tons,  and  the  other  American 
countries  had  shown,  in  certain  cases,  a  still  greater  percentage  of 
growth . 

The  amount  of  coffee   produced   in  the  world  has  been  steadily 


646276 


4  COFFKK  IN  AMERICA. 

increasing  for  many  years.     The  following  table  shows  the  production 
by  countries  for  the  ten  years  prior  to  1885  : 

Cwt. 

French  Possessions  in  Africa  and  West  Indies  .....................................  16,995 

Menado  ...........................................................................................  18,450 

Mocha    ..............................  .  ..........................  .  ..................................  19,054 

Cuba  ................................................................................................  24,000 

Salvador  ..........................................................................................  92,000 

Colombia  ..........................................................................................  98,204 

Guatemala  ..............  .........................................................................  120,716 

Costa  Rica  ........................................................................................  185,472 

Puerto  Rico  .......................................................................................  192,645 

Venezuela  ........................................................................................  230,000 

East  Indies  .......................................................................................  412,000 

Santo  Domingo  .....................  .  ...........................................................  606,000 

Ceylon  .............................................................................................  850,000 

Java  and  Sumatra  ...............................  .............................................  1,415,105 

Total  ..........................................................................................  4,280,641 

*.*.  *.„*..«..*  .....  ........................................................................  4,250,000 


6  coffee  'product  of  the  world  for  1888-89  was  estimated  as 
••.••,• 

ihe6lw<5  respective  authorities  : 
The  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  gives  : 

Pounds. 

Brazil  ..........................................................................................  812,000,000 

Java   ..........................................................................................  96,824,000 

Padang,  Sumatra  ........................................................................  12,320,000 

Celebes,  Ceylon,  India  and  Manila  ..........................................  ......  62,720,000 

Africa  and  Mocha  ........................................................................  12,320,000 

Mexico  and  Central  America  .......................................................  80,640,000 

Venezuela  ..................................................................................  78,400,000 

West  Indies  .................................................................................  94,304,000 

Total  ....................................................................................  1,249,528,000 

The  American  Grocer  estimates  : 

Brazil  ..........................................................................................    892,944,000 

Other  American  countries  ............................................................    301,123,744 

East  India  and  Africa  ................................................................    220,487.840 


Total 1,414,555,584 


COFFEE  IN  AMERICA. 


5 


The   latter  authority  gives  the   following  statement  of  the  coffee 
situation  at  the  close  of  the  year  ending  June  30,  1893  : 

The  trade  year  closed  June  30  with  deliveries  of  all  kinds  in  the  United 
States,  in  comparison  with  the  preceding  year,  as  follows  : 

Year.  Bags. 

1892-93....'.  .......................................................................................  4,  98,549 

1891-92  .................................  :....  ......................................................  4,411,532 

Decrease  in  1892-93  .................................................................        13,283 

This  shows  great  steadiness  of  consumption,  and  should  be  considered  satis- 
actory,  in  view  of  the  high  cost  ruling  and  trade  disturbances. 

In  Europe,  however,  we  find  an  increase  in  deliveries,  those  at  the  eight 
principal  ports  comparing  as  follows  : 

Year.  Bags. 

1892-93  ............................................................................  .'  ...............   6,547,679 

1891-92  ..........................................  :  .................................................  6,392,719 

Increase  in  1892-93  .................................................................      154,960 

Bringing  the  deliveries  of  Europe  and  the  United  States  together,  we  have 
the  following  comparative  statement  : 

Year.  United  States.  Europe.  Total. 

1892-93  ......................  4,398>549  ......................  6,547,679  ......................  10,946,228 

1891-62  ......................  4,411,832  ......................  6,392,719  ......................  10,804,551 

These  figures  show  annual  deliveries  for  the  trade  year  of,  in  round  num- 
Ders,  11,000,000  bags,  or  647,000  tons,  which  may  be  accepted  as  the  minimum 
requirements  of  Europe  and  the  United  States. 

For  the  four  calendar  years  ending  December  31,  1892,  the  average  annual 
deliveries  in  Europe  and  the  United  States  were  651,384  tons. 

It  is  fair,  with  these  figures  as  a  basis,  to  estimate  that  the  world  requires  an 
annual  supply  of  650,000  to  660,000  tons  (11,050,000  to  11,220,000  bags),  and  until 
the  production  exceeds  this  quantity,  there  is  not  much  chance  of  a  return  to  the 
low  prices  of  1882  to  1886. 

THE  BRA^iiy  CROP. 


The  receipts  of  coffee  in  Rio  and  3antos,  for  the  trade  year  ending  June  30, 
compare  with  preceding  years  as  follows: 


1892-93. 
1891-92. 
1890-91. 
1889-90. 
1888-89. 
1887-88. 
1886-87. 


Rio. 


Santos. 


Bags. 
2,989,000 
3,722,000 
2,413,000  j 
2,389,000 
4,189,000 
1,912,000  | 
3,497,000  ; 


Bags. 
3,213,000 
3,675,000 
2,945,000 
1,871,000 
2,638,000 

1,121,000 

2,581,000 


Total. 


Bags. 

6,202,000 

7,397,000 
5,358,000 
4,260,000 
6,827,000 
3,033,000 
6,078,000 


6  COFFKK  IN  AMERICA. 

Here  we  have  a  decrease  in  receipts  at  Rio  and  Santos  in  1892-93,  as  com- 
pared with  1891-92,  of  1,195,000  bags,  a  deficit  of  over  10  per  cent  of  the  world's 
coffee  requirements. 

The  average  annual  receipts  at  the  two  ports  of  Brazil  for  five  years  were 
6,008,800  bags,  so  that  the  crop  of  1892-93  was  a  full  average. 

The  exports  from  Rio  and  Santos  for  the  year  ending  June  30  and  the  pre- 
ceding four  years  were  as  follows: 


To  United 
States. 

To 
Europe. 

Total 
Exports. 

1  802—  Q  ^  —  Rio 

1,972,000 

053,000 

» 

Santos  .     .     .  .       

1,102,000 

2,268,000 

\ 

6,295,000 

1891—92  —  Rio  

2,556,000 

1,148,000 

} 

Santos  

997,000 

2,556,000 

} 

7,267,000 

1890-91  —  Rio  

1,556,000 

750,000 

) 

Santos  

798,000 

2,253,000 

[ 

5,537,000 

1889-90  —  Rio 

1,767,000 

724,000 

i 

Santos 

512,000 

1,567,000 

\ 

4,570,000 

1888-89  —  Rio       ...           

2,^2,000 

1,542,000 

i 

Santos  

S^.ooo 

2,024,000 

\ 

6,431,000 

The  above  shows  average  yearly  exports  for  five  years  of  6,020,000  bags, 
which  is  275,000  bags  below  the  exports  of  1892-93. 

Brazil  furnishes  about  54  */£  per  cent  of  the  world's  requirement  of  coffee, 
taking  the  average  exports  for  five  years  as  a  basis  of  computation. 

It  is  apparent  that  any  decrease  in  the  Brazil  supply  below  a  crop  permitting 
of  minimum  exports  of  6,000,000  bags,  or  54 >£  per  cent  of  the  world's  total 
supply,  means  high  prices  until  other  producing  countries  extend  their  area 
under  coffee  to  an  extent  great  enough  to  produce  and  export  an  average  of  at 
least  one-half  of  the  world's  requirements — unless  Brazil  has  other  years  of 
exceptional  yield,  as  in  1891-92,  when  the  receipts  at  Rio  and  Santos  went  1,388,- 
200  bags  beyond  the  yearly  average. 

Coffee  culture  is  being  pushed  in  Mexico,  Central  America  and  the  United 
States  of  Colombia,  but  new  plantations  have  not  yet  reached  a  point  where  they 
are  able  to  push  exports  abreast  of  Brazil,  and  until  that  time  is  reached  high 
prices  must  rule.  Consumption  has  not  increased  since  1886  as  much  as  it 
should,  in  view  of  the  increase  in  population  and  the  prosperous  condition  of  the 
United  States.  It  requires  the  stimulus  of  low  prices  and  exceptional  prosperity 
to  advance  coffee  consumption  in  the  old-time  ratio  of  about  9  per  cent  per 
annum. 


COFFEE   IN   AMERICA.  7 

THE  MOVEMENT  IN  1892-93. 

Taking  the  official  report  of  the  New  York  Coffee  Bxchange,  we  find  the 
position  of  coffee  and  movement  in  1892-93  to  be  as  follows: 

In  the  United  States- 
Stocks,  July  i,  1892 525,889 

Arrivals  in  United  States,  all  kinds 4,283,239 

Total  supply 4,809,128 

Less  stocks,  July  i,  1893 410,579 

Deliveries,  1892-93 4,398,549 

In  Europe — 

Stocks,  July  i,  1892 1,451,134 

Arrivals  in  Europe 6,987,191 

Total  supply .'....  8,438,325 

Less  stocks,  July  i,  1893 1,890,039 

Deliveries,  1892-93 6,547,679 

In  United  States  and  Europe — 

Stocks,  July  i,  1892 1,977,023 

Arrivals  in  Europe,  1892-93 6,987,191 

Arrivals  in  the  United  States,  1892-93 4,283,239 

Total  supply,  1892-93 13,247,453 

Less  stocks,  July  i,  1893 2,300,618 


Deliveries,  1892-93 10,946,835 

The  total  sales  for  future  delivery  on  the  New  York  Coffee  Exchange 
amounted  to  7,911,500  bags  for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1893,  compared  with 
6,949,000  in  1891-92,  7,700,750  bags  in  1890-91,  and  13,011,500  bags  in  1889-90. 
The  largest  transactions  for  any  one  month  were  in  April,  when  they  reached 
I»I75,75o  bags.  More  than  one-half  of  the  year's  business  was  done  during  the 
first  six  months  of  the  trade  year,  when  transactions  covered  4,157,250  bags 
against  3,754,250  bags  for  the  six  months  ended  June  30,  1893.  The  highest 
price  paid  was  17.70  cents  for  March  delivery  in  January,  1893,  and  the  lowest 
was  11.75  cents  for  October,  November  and  December  delivery  in  July  last. 

The  average  monthly  prices  of  No.  7  Rio  for  the  trade  year  ended  June  30, 
1893,  based  on  actual  sales,  were  as  follows: 

1892.                                                                       Cents.  1893.                                                        Cents. 

July 13.15    January 17.19 

August 13.86     February 18.03 

September 15.02     March 17.71 

October 16.01     April 15.85 

November 16.59     MaY I5-72 

December 16.77    June 16.68 

Average  for  trade  year,  16.05  cents. 


8  COFFEK  IN  AMERICA. 

It  is  certain  that  any  decrease  ;n  the  Brazil  supply  of  1893-94,  below  6,000,- 
ooo  bags,  means  a  heavy  inroad  upon  the  world's  stocks,  with  the  situation 
favorable  for  the  producers.  The  stocks,  July  i,  in  Europe  and  the  United  States, 
were  2,300,618  bags,  against  1,997,023  bags,  July  i,  1892,  an  increase  of  323,595 
bags.  In  the  United  States  there  was  a  decrease  as  compared  with  the. previous 
year  of  115,310  bags,  while  Europe  shows  an  increase  of  438,905  bags. 

Any  view  of  the  situation"  is  subject  to  modification,  owing  to  the  financial 
troubles  which  have  unsettled  the  markets  of  the  world.  The  liquidation  in 
South  America,  Australia,  England  and  this  country,  has  not  been  completed, 
and  until  it  is,  no  one  can  predict  with  any  approach  to  certainty  what  the 
course  of  the  coffee  market  will  be  in  1893-94.  Credits  have  as  much  to  do  with 
the  situation  as  crops. 


VARIETIES    OF    COFFEE. 

The  coffee  plant  (genus  cafed)  indigenous  to  Africa  and  South- 
western Asia  possesses  several  more  or  less  known  varieties,  viz  : 

Arabian  Coffee  :  Mocha,  Myrtle,  Aden  and  Bastard. 

Moorish  Coffee  :  Marron  of  Reunion. 

Monrovian  Coffee  :  Coffee  of  Gabon. 

Laurine  Coffee. 

Yellow  Coffee  (caf£  amarello):  The  richest  of  all  in  cafeine,  with 
yellow  berries. 

Red  Coffee  (caf6  vermelho):  The  common  coffee  of  Brazil,  Colom- 
bia, Guatemala,  Venezuela,  Nicaragua,  Salvador,  Costa  Rica  and 
Mexico.  The  berries  of  this  coffee  are  red  when  full  grown. 

The  subdivisions  of  the  above-named  varieties  are  quite  numer- 
ous, some  of  them  being  based  rather  on  the  district  where  they  are 
produced,  or  the  port  whence  they  are  shipped,  than  on  any  real 
difference  in  quality  or  appearance. 

Thus  we  have  for  Brazil,  the  Rio  Coffee,  also  subdivided  accord- 
ing to  class  or  treatment;  Santos  Coffee,  the  coffee  of  Minas,  that  of 
Bahia,  of  Ceara,  etc. 

For  the  West  Indies  there  are  the  Haiti,  Jamaica,  Puerto  Rico, 
Martinique,  etc.  For  Venezuela,  the  Laguayra  and  Maracaibo.  For 
Bolivia,  the  Yungas.  Central  America  presents  as  subdivisions  the 
Guatemala  ordinary  and  Guatemala  gragS ;  the  Costa  Rica,  ordinary 
an&gragS,  etc.  All  these  classes  or  subdivisions,  however,  belong  to 
the^Red  Coffee  variety. 


COFFEE  IN   AMERICA.  9 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  the  quality  of  coffee — that  is,  its 
flavor  and  aroma — is  improvld  by  keeping,  and  it  is  thought  to  be  at 
its  best  at  eight  years,  provided  it  has  been  kept  in  a  perfectly  dry 
place  and  atmosphere.  As  it  is  sold  by  weight,  and  as  it  loses  by 
the  evaporation  of  the  water  contained  in  the  freshly  prepared  beans, 
dealers  prefer  to  sell  it  as  green  as  possible.  When  at  its  best,  its 
color  should  be  a  pale  yellow,  for  the  usual  variety;  and  greenness 
of  color  is  an  evidence  of  immaturity  or  of  artificial  coloring.  Such 
coffee  should  be  avoided. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  great  variation  in  the  size  and 
w'eight  of  coffee  from  different  sources: 

WEIGHT. — DENSITIES  OP  OI,D  COFFEE. 


Origin. 

Date  of  crop. 

Condition  of  the 
grains. 

Weight 
per  litre. 

Number  of 
grains  to  the 
decilitre. 

Mocha    (Admiral    de 
Rigny)  . 
Mocha  of  Aden  

1828 
1874- 

Grains    regular, 
fine. 
Much  mixed  

Grammes 
500 

606 

5io 
554 

Zanzibar  Mocha  

1874 

Much  mixed  

600 

476 

Java  

Regular,  large.... 

445 

338 

Reunion  

1869 

Fine,  pointed  at 

630 

488 

Brazil 

1872 

the  ends  . 
Regular,  large  

S22 

294 

{No.  16. 
No.  17. 
No.  18. 
Venezuela 

1867) 
1871  \ 
1872) 
i86s 

Regular,  large.  < 
Ovoid,  medium  ... 

° 
460 

544 
586 
654 

300 
292 
354 
400 

San  Salvador 

1877 

Ovoid,  medium 

662 

Cochin  Chip  a               1 

Small 

614 

KMA 

Rio  Nunez 

Small 

S8o 

618 

Nossi  Be. 

Medium  

584 

432 

Nossi  Be(#W). 

Very    Dry.  « 

Ovoid,  very  small. 

44° 

752 

Gabon  

Large,  irregular.. 

490 

336 

Caledonia 

Medium  

570 

442 

Ceylon 

Medium  Drv. 

Fine  

580 

452 

Brazil  (Espirito  Santo) 

1875 

Large  (artificially 
dried}  . 

567 

3i8 

io  COFFEE  IN  AMERICA. 

Its  loss  of  weight  by  drying  is  shown  by  the  following — the 
density  being: 

Grammes. 

For  eight  years 4.60 

For  four  years 5.44 

For  three  years 5.86 

Since  1885  the  production  has  increased  enormously.  Brazil 
alone  produced  for  exportation  in  1891-92,  7,000,000  bags  of  132 
pounds  each,  showing  that  its  exports  for  this  year  exceeded  the 
total  production  in  1888-89  by  over  100,000,000  pounds.  The  exports 
of  coffee  from  Mexico  for  1888-89  were  to  the  amount  of  $3,886,034, 
and  $1,019,066  for  the  first  six  months  of  1890-91.  Costa  Rica  pro- 
duced, in  1889—90,  33,363,200  pounds;  Venezuela,  95,170,272;  Colom- 
bia exported  in  the  latter  year  to  the  value  of  $4,262,030,  and  Guate- 
mala 50,859,900  pounds,  valued  at  $2,714,981.  Nicaragua  produced 
in  1890-91  11,300,000  pounds. 

While  the  total  production  of  the  world  has  thus  been  increasing, 
the  ratio  of  this  increase  has  been  far  greater  in  the  countries  that 
make  up  Latin  America  than  in  the  coffee  producing  districts  of  the 
Old  World,  where  the  once  famed  plantations  of  Arabia  have  dwin- 
dled to  an  insignificant  production,  and  the  difficulties  of  cultivation 
in  Java  have  increased.  It  is  in  the  former,  therefore,  that  the 
steadily  growing  demands  shown  by  the  constantly  increasing  price 
must  stimulate  the  opening  of  new  fields. 


RANGE    OF    PRODUCTION. 

The  plant  is  a  native  of  the  tropics  and  can  be  cultivated  only 
in  regions  free  from  frost,  though  excessive  heat  is  inimical  to 
a  healthy  growth  or  good  product.  Thus,  in  the  low,  hot  lands  of  the 
entire  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  Caribbean  Sea  and  South  Atlantic, 
its  cultivation  is  not  attempted;  and  it  is  only  back  on  the  high  lands 
and  hill  ranges  that  successful  plantations  are  found. 

Mexico  is  the  most  northern  and  Paraguay  the  most  southern  of 
the  countries  of  this  Continent,  where  its  cultivation  has  been  profit- 
ably pursued,  and  the  area  of  territory  in  each  of  the  countries  where 
it  is  grown  that  can  be  successfully  devoted  to  the  production  of 
coffee  is  much  less  than  is  generally  supposed. 


COFFEE   IN    AMERICA.  II 

•The  following  information  as  to  this  industry  has  been  gained 
from  those  having  personal  knowledge  of  coffee  culture  in  the  differ- 
ent localities: 

MEXICO. 

In  regard  to  coffee  raising  in  Mexico,  Maj.  J.  D.  Warner,  of  the 
the  City  of  Mexico,  says,  in  the  Mexican  Trader,  under  recent  date  :  * 

Coffee  raising  in  Mexico  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  but  it  pays  from  100  to  200  per 
cent  on  the  capital  invested,  the  Mexican  coffee  being  of  a  superior  quality  and 
ranking  among  the  best  in  the  world.  Coffee  is  worth  at  present,  at  the  planta- 
tion, from  20  to  25  cents  per  pound,  while  the  annual  cost  of  production  averages 
only  7  cents  per  pound,  the  coffee  being  sold  for  cash  only,  and  never  commis- 
sioned out  to  find  a  market.  Good  coffee  land  with  an  exceptional  title  can  be 
bought  for  from  $5  to  |ioo  an  acre,  according  to  location  and  condition,  and  an 
acre  will  grow  1000  trees. 

He  states  that  the  coffee  plantations  of  Mexico  are  never  attacked 
by  any  disease  or  parasite ;  but  in  a  document  published  by  the 
Department  of  Industry  and  Commerce  of  that  country,  in  1883,  among 
other  insects  injurious  to  the  coffee  plant,  one,  the  gallina  ciega,  is 
mentioned  as  attacking  the  roots  and  doing  much  damage  to  the  plant. 

The  altitude  recommended  for  the  establishment  of  plantations 
is  from  1000  to  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  such  locali- 
ties are  the  healthiest  to  be  found  in  the  tropics,  being  above  the 
level  where  yellow  fever  and  malarious  diseases  usually  prevail. 

The  gathering  of  the  crop  is  largely  done  by  women  and  children, 
and  labor  is  not  difficult  to  obtain.  Major  Warner  states  that  the 
average  of  wages  paid  in  the  coffee  raising  districts  is  43  3^  cents 
per  day. 

Serior  Romero,  Minister  of  Mexic  oin  the  United  States,  in  a 
work  on  coffee  culture  -published  in  1875,  estimates  the  cost  of  each 
coffee  tree,  four  years  from  planting,  at  about  n  cents,  including 
price  of  land  and  wages ;  that  the  tree  in  its  fourth  year  will  yield 
two  pounds  of  coffee,  which,  at  a  minimum  price  of  10  cents,  makes 
20  cents  per  tree.  The  expense  of  gathering  and  preparation  for 
market  he  puts  at  5  cents,  thus  leaving  a  net  profit  of  15  cents  per 
tree.  With  1000  trees  per  acre,  the  net  profit  per  acre  is  seen  to  be 
$150  for  the  fourth  year.  The  yield  increases,  ordinarily,  to  the 
seventh  or  eighth  year. 


12  COFFEE   IN   AMERICA. 

The  following  remarks  and  directions  in  relation  to  coffee 
planting  in  Mexico  are  taken  in  substance  from  the  government  pub- 
lication referred  to  above,  and  may,  with  some  unimportant  modifi- 
cations, be  applied  to  the  cultivation  of  coffee  in  all  American  coun- 
tries that  produce  it : 

CULTIVATION  OF  COFFEE. 

The  soil  most  generally  suited  for  coffee  plantations  is  a  friable, 
sandy,  or  even  gravelly  one,  though  the  presence  of  clay  in  consid- 
erable amount  is  not  objectionable,  when  the  drainage  is  good;  but 
soils  that  retain  standing  water,  or  those  formed  chiefly  of  alluvium, 
while  they  produce  vigorous  trees,  do  not  yield  coffee  of  good  quality. 
The  best  soils  are  sufficiently  deep  to  allow  the  roots  to  penetrate  ver- 
tically to  a  distance  of  three  feet  or  more,  and  should  not  rest  on  a 
substratum  of  solid  rock  or  impermeable  clay,  as  the  moisture  would 
be  too  long  retained,  and  the  plants  injured.  For  this  reason  it  is 
always  advisable,  in  selecting  ground  for  a  coffee  plantation,  to  make 
sure  that  the  above  .conditions,  as  nearly  as  possible,  exist;  otherwise 
disappointment  and  failure  may  result. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  moisture  is  not  necessary 
for  the  healthy  growth  and  production  of  plant  and  fruit;  for  unless 
there  is  abundant  moisture  afforded  by  nature,  in  the  way  of  rains  and 
dews,  artificial  irrigation  will  be  needed.  The  essential  thing  is  that 
the  moisture  pass  freely  through  the  soil  and  not  be  retained  standing 
about  the  roots  of  the  plant. 

The  best  plantations  are  made  on  virgin  soil,  from  which  a  forest 
growth  has  been  removed  by  cutting  the  trees  and  burning  the 
branches  and  undergrowth  on  the  ground,  as  the  ashes  are  an  excel- 
lent fertilizer,  whose  properties  are  lasting.  Hillsides  are  usually 
selected  to  secure  better  drainage,  and  eastern  exposures  are  pre- 
ferred, though  not  essential  to  the  growth  of  productive  plantations. 
Next  to  eastern,  the  western  slopes  are  preferable,  as  on  either  of 
these  the  growing  plants  are  not  exposed  all  day  to  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun,  as  is  the  case  with  northern  and  southern  exposures. 

Many  planters  are  of  the  opinion  that  burning  over  the  ground 
injures  it,  and  no  doubt  this  is  the  case  if  the  whole  forest  growth  be 
burned,  as  is  sometimes  done;  but  when  only  the  branches  of  the 


COFFEE  IN   AMERICA.  13 

fallen  trees  and  the  undergrowth  are  consumed  by  the  fire,  the 
general  opinion  is  that  the  ashes  are  valuable  as  a  fertilizer  for  the 
coffee  plants.  In  Brazil,  the  fallen  trunks  of  such  trees  as  make 
valuable  timber  are  sawed  by  hand  by  gangs  of  men,  who 'go  about 
the  country  for  that  purpose,  since  saw-mills  are  scarce,  and  the 
transportation  of  the  heavy  hard-wood  logs  would  be  almost  impos- 
sible. Some  of  these  woods  are  almost  as  hard  as  iron,  and  the 
sawing  is  difficult  and  very  slow. 

The  plants  for  the  future  plantation  are  raised  either  on  the  spot 
where  they  are  to  grow,  or  in  seed-beds,  to  be  afterwards  transplanted 
to  their  permanent  place.  The  latter  mode  is  that  most  generally 
preferred,  as  by  it  plants  without  defect  may  be  selected,  and  of 
uniform  size,  which  is  not  possible  under  the  former  system. 

If  the  former  method  be  chosen,  however,  the  ground,  cleaned  of 
all  growth,  is  staked  off  in  lines,  in  which  the  seeds  are  planted,  a 
few  to  each  hill,  at  from  six  to  eight  feet  apart.  The  rows  are  not  so 
far  apart  as  the  hills,  for  these  are  arranged  in  the  quincunx  order — 
that  is,  three  hills  form  the  vertices  of  an  equilateral  triangle,  two  of 
them  being  in  one  line  and  the  third,  or  vertex  of  the  triangle,  being 
in  the  next  line.  The  distance  apart  of  the  plants,  then,  being  rep- 
resented by  a,  the  distance  of  the  lines  from  each  other  will  be 
the  square  root  of  Y^a.  This  arrangement  gives  each  plant  the 
same  root  area  as  to  every  other  one,  and  in  situations  when  the 
plough  can  be  used,  allows  cultivation  in  three  directions.  Of  course 
the  soil  where  the  seeds  are  deposited  must  be  thoroughly  and  deeply 
stirred.  This  is  done  by  long,  sharp  spades,  made  especially  for  the 
purpose,  and  the  holes  are  dug  some  two  feet  square  and  to  about  the 
same  depth,  in  order  that  the  roots  may  easily  penetrate  the  soil  in 
all  directions.  The  earth  removed  from  the  hole  is  so  replaced  that 
what  was  at  the  top  shall  be  at  the  bottom. 

As  the  young  plants  need  to  be  protected  from  the  burning  rays 
of  the  sun,  banana  plants,  which  are  of  very  rapid  growth,  are  set  at 
the  centers  of  the  triangular  spaces;  or,  as  the  banana  propagates  so 
rapidly  and  is  so  difficult  to  extirpate,  when  the  coffee  plants  require 
the  whole  ground,  many  prefer  to  plant  the  wild  fig,  or  some  other 
plant  easier  to  eradicate.  In  Brazil  it  is  usual  to  plant  a  kind  of  tall 
coarse  pea,  called  guando,  which  shades  the  ground  effectually,  pre- 
vents the  soil  from  washing  away,  and  is  allowed  to  fall  and  decay 


I4  COFFEE   IN   AMERICA. 

on  the  ground.  This  plant  is  selected  because  it  is  rich  in  potash 
and  affords  excellent  manure  for  the  growing  coffee  plants. 

As  the  ground  rarely  admits  of  cultivation  with  the  plow,  the  soil 
is  kept  free  from  weeds  by  the  use  of  heavy,  sharp  hoes,  and  the 
bushes  that  spring  up  are  cut  down  with  mattocks  or  grubbers;  all  the 
work  being  done  by  hand.  During  the  first  season,  particularly,  it  is 
important  that  all  weeds  and  grass  be  destroyed  before  going  to  seed, 
thus  preventing  new  generations  from  appearing  in  subsequent  years 
to  increase  the  labor  of  cultivation.  The  burning  of  the  brush  on 
the  ground,  in  the  preparation  of  the  future  plantation,  destroys  many 
seeds  that  would  otherwise  produce  weeds. 

After  the  seed  is  planted,  if  no  rain  falls,  irrigation  will  be  nec,- 
essary  to  prevent  the  earth  about  the  germinating  seed  from  drying, 
as  in  that  stage  moisture  is  necessary  to  the  life  of  the  embryo 
plant.  Care  should  be  taken,  however,  that  the  irrigation  be  not 
excessive,  as  too  much  water  is  as  injurious  as  too  little.  After  the 
roots  have  formed  and  penetrated  deep  into  the  soil,  the  plant  resists 
drought  more  easily.  Of  course,  if  several  seeds  germinate,  the  most 
vigorous  plant  is  preserved  and  the  rest  removed,  after  a  short  time, 
or  before  the  roots  of  various  plants  have  become  mingled  together, 
so  that  in  removing  the  others  the  roots  of  the  one  selected  to  remain 
shall  not  be  disturbed. 

The  propagation  of  the  plants  in  seed  beds,  which,  as  has  been 
said,  is  the  course  usually  pursued,  is  as  follows:  A  spot  of  ground  of 
the  same  quality  as  that  of  the  proposed  plantation  is  selected;  since, 
if  the  seed  bed  be  more  fertile  than  the  soil  of  the  plantation,  the 
young  plants  will  start  off  with  a  vigorous  growth,  which  will  be 
injuriously  checked  by  transplanting  to  a  soil  less  rich.  At  the  same 
time,  the  seed  bed  should  not  be  lacking  in  the  elements  of  vigorous 
growth,  as  puny  plants  rarely  become  vigorous,  even  when  removed 
to  a  very  fertile  soil.  Very  much,  then,  depends  on  a  proper  rela- 
tion of  fertility  between  the  soil  of  seed  bed  and  that  of  the  perma- 
nent plantation. 

The  location  of  the  bed  should  be  such  that  it  will  receive  the 
rays  of  the  sun  during  the  forenoon,  and  remain  in  comparative  shade 
after  midday.  The  seed  bed  is  thoroughly  prepared  by  stirring  and 
inverting  the  soil,  and  the  seeds  may  be  planted  in  ridges  or  in  boxes 
set  in  the  ground,  having  not  less  than  ten  inches  of  earth.  Seeds 


COFFEE   IN   AMERICA.  15 

that  are  perfectly  sound  and  regular  in  shape  and  size  should  be 
selected  and  planted  about  two  and  a  half  inches  apart.  They  should 
be  covered  with  vegetable  mold  to  the  depth  of  about  three -fourths 
of  an  inch,  and  the  whole  seed  bed  well  sprinkled  from  a  watering 
pot  immediately  after  the  planting. 

All  grass  and  weeds  must  be  carefully  removed  from  the  bed  as 
they  appear,  and  the  earth  watered  whenever  it  appears  dry,  which  is 
best  done  late  in  the  afternoon.  Frequent  light  sprinklings,  which 
keep  the  soil  in  an  even  condition  of  moisture,  are  preferable  to  pro- 
fuse watering  at  long  intervals,  which  makes  the  earth  alternately  too 
wet  and  too  dry. 

The  young  plants  begin  to  appear  in  about  a  month,  and  in  ten 
or  twelve  months  are  ready  for  transplanting,  being,  at  that  age,  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  inches  high.  The  banana  or  other  plants  intended 
to  shade  the  young  coffee  trees  should  be  set  out  before  the  trans- 
planting of  the  latter,  and  given  time  to  become  large  enough  to  fur- 
nish shade  from  the  first.  The  cultivation  of  the  new  plantation  will 
consist  in  keeping  down  the  weeds  and  grass,  and  if  these  should 
grow  to  considerable  size  it  is  better  to  cut  them  down,  allow  them  to 
dry,  and  burn  them  in  piles,  than  to  cover  them  with  earth.  Many 
insects  and  their  eggs,  or  larvae,  are  destroyed  by  the  burning,  that 
would  not  be  killed  by  burying  them. 

The  transplanting  is  done  when  the  ground  is  moist  from  recent 
rains,  and  if  a  ball  of  earth  be  taken  up  with  the  roots  of  the  young 
plant,  it  will  start  off  more  quickly  and  vigorously  in  its  new  place. 
If  the  plants  destined  to  furnish  shade  have  not  been  previously 
planted,  it  will  be  necessary  to  stick  a  branch  with  leaves  in  the  ground 
beside  the  young  plant,  so  as  to  shade  it  until  it  takes  new  root;  but 
these  branches  should  not  be  left  there  longer  than  necessary,  as  they 
become  the  breeding  place  of  insects  which  are  injurious  to  the  coffee 
plant. 

If  the  roots  of  the  plants  are  torn  in  removal,  they  should  be  cut 
obliquely  and  smoothly  above  the  wound.  The  plants  can  be  con- 
veniently carried  from  the  seed  bed  to  the  plantation  in  large  baskets, 
whose  bottoms  are  covered  with  moist  earth.  The  direct  rays  of  the 
sun  should  not  be  allowed  to  fall  on  the  plants  during  their  transpor- 
tation and  planting.  The  plants  should  be  set  at  the  same  depth  as 


1 6  COFFBK  IN   AMERICA. 

in  the  seed  bed,  and  the  ground  about  them  watered  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  day  of  transplanting.  . 

In  addition  to  keeping  the  new  plantation  free  from  grass  and 
weeds,  the  suckers  or  shoots  which  will  push  at  the  base  of  the 
plant  should  be  removed,  as  well  as  all  diseased  branches  and  such 
as  lie  on  the  ground.  Some  of  the  plants  will  die,  and  these  must  be 
replaced  by  the  most  vigorous  ones  from  the  seed  bed. 

Some  planters  think  it  best  to  pinch  off"  the  terminal  buds  of  the 
top  boughs  when  the  plants  have  reached  a  height  of  five  or  six  feet. 
This  is  to  prevent  the  tree  from  growing  too  high  for  the  convenient 
gathering  of  the  berries.  Others  believe  that  this  process  injures  the 
quality  of  the  coffee,  an  opinion  apparently  ill-founded,  since  the 
general  practice  is  to  top  the  trees,  which  makes  them  more  stocky 
and  the  lateral  branches  stronger.  In  the  forest,  surrounded  by  other 
trees,  the  coffee  tree  grows  tall  and  straggling  and  produces  but 
little. 

A  Mexican  authority  declares  that  the  coffee  tree  will  not  bear 
pruning,  but  in  Brazil  and  other  countries  it  is  freely  practiced.  The 
distance  of  the  plants  from  each  other  varies  considerably  in  different 
countries  and  localities.  In  Costa  Rica  it  is  recommended  to  give 
them  a  distance  of  ten  feet.  In  Brazil,  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  is  the 
usual  distance,  while  in  Mexico  six,  seven  or  eight  feet  seems  to  be 
preferred.  No  doubt  the  size  of  the  tree  at  maturity  is  that  which 
determines  the  proper  distance  under  the  system  of  pruning  that  is 
practiced.  A  distance  often  feet  in  the  quincunx  order  of  planting 
will  give  about  500  trees  to  the  acre. 

Generally,  if  the  soil  of  the  plantation  is  originally  of  sufficient 
fertility,  little  or  no  manures  will  be  required,  if  the  leaves  that  fall 
annually  from  the  trees,  and  vegetable  growth  that  is  raised  between 
the  rows  are  turned  under  the  soil  to  decay ;  but  where  manures  are 
necessary  or  desirable,  the  vegetable  should  be  preferred  to  the 
animal.  Ashes  are  an  excellent  application,  as  the  coffee  plant  is  a 
consumer  of  potash. 

If  the  ground  of  the  plantation  is  very  steep  and  the  soil  inclined 
to  be  washed  away,  it  is  better  not  to  keep  it  too  clean  of  grass  and 
weeds,  as  these  retain  the  earth  by  their  roots  and  stems  that  lie  on 
the  ground ;  and  sometimes  diagonal  ditches  must  be  made  to  carry 


COFFEE  IN   AMERICA.  17 

off  the  excess  of  water  more  slowly  than  it  \vould  descend  the  slope 
if  unobstructed. 

Although  there  are  few  plants  less  exposed  to  the  attacks  of 
insects  and  disease,  the  coffee  has  certain  enemies,  both  animal  and 
fungus,  which  require  attention,  but  none  of  these  present  great  diffi- 
culties in  overcoming.  A  growth  of  moss  is  probably  indicative  of 
too  much  moisture  and  a  generally  feeble  condition.  Very  few  spe- 
cific remedies  are  employed  against  insects,  which  are  rarely  very 
formidable. 

The  trees  begin  to  produce  in  the  fourth  year,  and  in  the  seventh 
reach  their  full  capacity.  A  coffee  plantation  favorably  located  and 
properly  cared  for  will  continue  in  profitable  bearing  some  forty  years. 

Mexican  coffee  is  considered  to  be  milder  and,  in  some  respects, 
superior  to  the  product  of  some  of  the  other  coffee  producing 
countries.  There  remain  still  in  Mexico  vast  bodies  of  virgin  land. 
United  States  Consul  Sampson,  at  Paso  del  Norte,  in  a  report  dated 
June  17,  1891,  represents  that  nearly  one-third  of  the  lands  of  the 
Republic  are  unoccupied,  the  greater  part  of  which  are  available  for 
agricultural  and  pastoral  purposes.  Among  this  are  many  tracts 
which  may  be  profitably  devoted  to  coffee  culture.  Any  settler  may 
obtain  as  many  as  6000  acres  of  government  lands  at  prices  varying 
from  12  cents  to  $1.80  per  acre.  The  Mexican  government  offers 
every  encouragement  to  actual  settlers.  To  settlers  in  colonies,  as 
much  as  247  acres  are  granted  free,  and  the  colonies  will  receive  a 
title  to  the  same  after  having  cultivated  the  land  for  five  consecutive 
years.  The  settlers  are  also  exempted  for  the  period  of  ten  years- 
from  military  service,  from  all -taxes  except  municipal,  from  all 
import  or  domestic  duties  on  articles  imported  for  their  own  use,  and 
from  export  duties  on  their  products.  Public  lands  may  be  obtained 
in  any  part  of  the  Republic  where  they  are  situated,  except  within 
sixty  miles  from  the  frontier.  In  sections  suitable  for  coffee  culture  „ 
tobacco,  vanilla,  ramie,  Indian  corn,  etc.,  may  also  be  raised. 


GUATEMALA. 


The   production  of  coffee   in  Guatemala  is  steadily,  though  not 
rapidly,  increasing.     In  1887,  the  production  was  48,539,267  pounds, 


l8  COFFEE   IN    AMERICA. 

and  in  1891  it  had  advanced  to  52,197,853  pounds.  Between  1861 
and  1870,  only  11,481,420  pounds  were  exported,  but  between  1871 
and  1883  the  exports  of  coffee  reached  293,274,971  pounds. 

The  temperature  best  suited  to  the  healthy  growth  and  abundant 
production  of  the  plant  in  Guatemala  is  between  60°  and  90°  Fahren- 
heit, the  former  being  rather  too  cool  and  the  latter  too  warm  for  the 
best  results.  In  the  lands  whose  altitude  is  from  1500  to  2000  feet, 
and  where  the  ruling  temperature  approaches  the  latter  limit,  the 
young  plants  must  be  shaded,  in  new  plantations,  by  tall  and  rapidly 
growing  plants,  otherwise  their  growth  is  unhealthy,  as  is  betrayed 
by  the  small  size  and  yellowish  appearance  of  the  leaves. 

For  the  purpose  of  shading  the  young  trees,  the  banana  is  very 
generally  employed;  as  it  not  only  affords  abundant  shade,  but  pro- 
duces paying  crops  of  its  own.  After  one  or  two  seasons'  growth  ,the 
coffee  plants  need  no  further  extraneous  shade. 

In  districts  whose  mean  elevation  is  4500  feet,  plantations  must 
be  sheltered  from  the  cold  north  winds,  which,  during  December, 
January  and  February,  blow  almost  continuously,  and  destroy  planta- 
tions exposed  to  their  full  force.  A  range  of  hills  to  the  north  of  and 
overlooking  the  plantation  is  the  best  natural  protection  that  can  be 
found,  but  in  the  absence  of  this,  it  is  customary,  when  the  mercury 
at  night  falls  to  60°,  to  burn  heaps  of  rubbish  mixed  with  pitch  on 
the  north  side  of  the  plantation,  and  the  dense  smoke,  drifting  over 
and  through  the  rows  of  trees,  furnishes  complete  protection  from 
the  effects  of  the  cold. 

The  scarcity  of  labor  has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  the  main 
obstacle  to  a  rapid  increase  in  the .  coffee  product  in  the  extensive 
lands  of  Guatemala  so  well  suited  to  the  growth  of  the  plant. 

Mr.  Audly  Gosling,  in  a  report  made  to  the  British  government 
in  1892,  says  that  lands  suitable  for  coffee  plantations  may  still  be 
had  at  moderate  prices,  and  that  the  production  would  be  increased 
three  or  four  times  if  sufficient  laborers  could  be  obtained  for  new 
plantations.  The  lands  most  suitable  for  plantations  and  most  favor- 
ably situated  with  respect  to  centers  of  shipment  naturally  com- 
mand the  highest  prices. 

For  the  better  and  more  favorably  located  lands,  the  govern- 
ment price  is  about  $80  per  caballeria  (120  acres),  $40  to  be  paid   to* 
Hi?  authorized  surveyor;  making,  in  all,  about  $i  per  acre.     This, 


COEFKE   IN    AMERICA.  19 

however,  is  the  price  when  there  is  no  competition  among  bidders. 
Mr.  Gosling  thinks  that  the  most  inviting  fields  are  the  districts  more 
remote  from  the  cities,  and  that  in  these,  well-directed  energy  and 
moderate  capital  may  expect  abundant  rewards  from  coffee  raising. 

The  manner  of  raising  the  plants  and  setting  them  in  the  per- 
manent plantations  is  almost  the  same  as  in  Mexico,  and  the  same 
cultivation  is  given  to  the  growing  trees.  The  critical  season  for  the 
future  crop  is  the  blooming  period.  A  heavy  rainfall,  while  the  trees 
are  in  flower,  will  seriously  damage  the  plants,  washing  away  the 
pollen  and  thus  preventing  fructification.  This  period  lasts  three  or 
four  days,  when  the  blossoms  fall  and  the  "cherry,"  as  it  is  called, 
begins  to  appear.  This  "  cherry  "  reaches  maturity  in  October  and  is 
ready  for  gathering  and  "pulping" — that  is,  for  the  removal  of  the 
outer  shell  and  pulp,  after  which  it  is  washed  and  carried  to  dry, 
spread  out  in  brick-paved  yards  exposed  to  the  sun. 

The  methods  employed  for  the  handling  of  the  berries  after 
gathering  may  be  greatly  improved,  and  when  the  modern  machinery 
and  drying  apparatus,  such  as  are  used  on  the  larger  plantations  in 
Brazil,  shall  have  been  introduced,  the  Guatemala  product  will  be 
greatly  improved,  both  in  quality  and  amount.  The  profit,  too,  of 
the  culture,  in  a  country  where  labor  is  so  scarce,  must  depend  greatly 
on  the  employment  of  all  means  which  will  economize  manual  labor. 

German  settlers  have  taken  up  coffee  lands  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  is  estimated  that  fully  one-fifth  of  the  plantations  are  in  their 
hands. 

Lands  in  Guatemala  may  be  readily  acquired  by  foreigners,  at 
prices  that  vary  according  to  their  situation,  quality,  etc. 

Level  lands  covered  with  natural  pasture  are  sold  at  $2  per 
hectare  (2^  acres).  If  level  and  covered  with  brush  they  bring 
$1.50  per  hectare,  if  they  yield  sarsaparilla  and  other  valuable  natural 
products,  and  $i  if  without  such  products.  Broken,  stony,  miry  and 
sterile  lands  are  sold  at  80  cents  per  hectare.  Vacant  public  lands 
sixty  miles  or  more  distant  from  the  nearest  center  of  population  may 
be  obtained  at  one -fourth  the  above  prices.  Settlers  introduced  into 
Guatemala,  or  through  the  government  Bureau  of  Immigration,  may 
obtain  concessions,  of  public  land  without  payment  and  will  receive 
a  title  to  the  same  on  fulfilment  of  certain  easy  conditions. 
Settlers  are  also  exempt,  for  ten  years,  from  any  direct  tax  or  impost, 


20  COFFEE  IN  AMERICA. 


and  are  also  free  from  military  service,  and  are  entitled  to  introduce, 
free  of  duty,  such  tools,  implements  and  machinery  as  are  needed  for 
their  work.  After  becoming  firmly  established  they  may  allow  the 
foreigner  to  pay  taxes  on  their  importations,  as  in  other  countries. 


HONDURAS. 

The  soil,  surface  and  climatic  conditions  of  Honduras  are  so 
similar  to  those  of  Guatemala  that  the  cultivation  of  coffee  is  almost 
identical  in  all  respects,  and  the  yield  and  profits  are  about  the  same. 
As  in  Guatemala,  scarcity  of  labor  is  the  chief  obstacle  to  coffee- 
raising,  and  the  government,  recognizing  the  importance  of  immigra- 
tion for  the  development  of  the  public  lands,  offers  them  to  settlers  at 
very  low  prices.  Senor  Jeronimo  Belaya,  delegate  from  Honduras  in 
the  International  American  Conference,  informed  the  Bureau  of 
American  Republics  that  lands  on  the  northern  coast  may  be  obtained 
gratis,  on  application  to  the  government. 

The  prices  of  land,  when  sold  by  the  government,  vary  from  25 
cents  per  acre,  when  suitable  for  pasture  only,  to  50  cents,  when  fit  for 
agricultural  purposes.  Lands  situated  within  a  league  of  a  navigable 
body  of  water  are  sold  at  75  cents  per  acre,  and  those  exceptionally 
located,  or  possessing  particular  advantages,  bring  $i  per  acre. 

United  States  Consul  Herring,  speaking  of  the  various  products 
of  Honduras,  says  its  "coffee  is  perhaps  without  a  superior  in  the 
world,"  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  cultivation  of  the  plant  has  not 
been  extended  so  rapidly  as  in  some  other  of  the  Central  American 
States,  it  seems  that  the  field  offered  for  enterprises  in  that  direction 
is  not  less  inviting  than  in  the  neighboring  countries. 


NICARAGUA. 

Coffee  is  the  staple  product  of  Nicaragua  and  the  annual  yield 
has  continued  comparatively  steady  during  the  last  ten  years.  In 
1881-82  the  production  was  120,262  quintals,  and  in  1890-91  113,000 
quintals;  showing  a  slight  falling  off.  There  are  under  cultivation 
in  coffee  about  76,000  acres,  and  each  acre  is  estimated  to  produce 
five  quintals.  (A  quintal  equals  220.46  pounds.) 


COFFEE  IN  AMERICA.  21 

The  lands  in  this  Republic  suitable  for  coffee  raising  are  found  on 
the  Sierra  de  Managua,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  adapted  to  that 
purpose;  in  Diriamba,  San  Marcos  and  Jinotepe,  and  about  the  base 
\h"  the  volcano  Monbacho,  near  Grenada.  Good  coffee  lands  are  also 
found  on  the  Island  of  Ometipe,  in  Lake  Nicaragua,  and  around 
Boaco,  in  the  Department  of  Chontales,  where  the  cultivation  has 
only  recently  begun.  There  are  also  many  flourishing  plantations 
near  Matagalpa  and  Jinotega,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Esteli  and 
Lomato,  in  the  Department  of  Nueva  Segovia. 

Water  is  scarce  on  the  Pacific  Coast  lands,  but  in  the  Departments 
of  Chontales  and  Matagalpa,  is  abundant.  Communication  between 
the  districts  and  centers  of  population  is,  for  the  greater  part,  by 
roads  where  only  mules  can  travel,  though  some  of  them  will  admit 
of  transportation  by  wagons  and  carts.  The  altitude  of  the  coffee 
lands  is  from  3000  to  4000  feet  above  sea  level,  at  which  height  the 
atmosphere  is  pure  and  residents  enjoy  excellent  health. 

Labor  is  more  abundant  in  the  northern  than  in  the  Pacific 
departments,  and  wages  of  laborers  vary  from  40  to  50  cents  per 
day.  In  the  northern  departments,  too,  are  many  streams  that  can 
be  utilized  to  afford  motive  power  for  machinery;  also,  rivers  of 
considerable  size. 

For  the  exportation  of  coffee,  the  principal  roads  are  the  National 
Railway  from  Granada  to  Corinto;  the  route  by  steamer  from  Granada 
to  San  Jorge,  on  Lake  Nicaragua,  and  thence  by  wagons  to  San  Juan 
del  Sur;  and  that  from  Granada  to  San  Juan  del  Norte,  on  the 
Atlantic.  Freight  on  coffee  from  Granada  to  Corinto  is  about  60 
cents  per  100  pounds. 

In  order  to  encourage  the  establishment  of  coffee  plantations  the 
government  of  Nicaragua  does  not  place  a  penalty  upon  industry  in 
the  form  of  a  license  tax,  but  has  ade  a  law,  by  which,  to  every 
person  planting  not  less  than  5000  coffee  trees,  a  premium  of  5  cents 
per  tree  is  given  ;  one-half  of  which  is  payable  when  the  trees  are 
2  years  old,  and  the  remainder  when  they  begin  to  produce.  From 
400  to  500  trees  are  set  to  the  acre,  and  the  cost  of  the  plants  is  about 
$5  per  1000.  The  expense  of  clearing  the  land  for  plantations  is 
placed  by  the  United  States  consul  at  Managua  at  from  $3  to  $12.50 
per  acre.  The  same  authority  estimates  the  cost  of  producing  100 
pounds  of  coffee  at  $5,  which  leaves  a  handsome  margin  for  profit. 


22  COFFKE   IN   AMERICA. 

The  price  of  government  lands  suitable  for  agricultural  purposes 
is  about  75  cents  per  acre;  for  such  as  are  well  watered  with  running 
streams,  $i;  and  for  those  containing  valuable  building  timber  and 
dye-woods,  20  cents  per  acre  additional. 

The  consul  above  cited  advises  no  one  to  go  to  Nicaragua  to 
establish  himself  as  a  coffee  planter  with  less  than  $3000  or  $4000 
capital. 

The  methods  of  opening  new  lands  for  plantations,  raising  the 
young  plants,  setting  them  in  the  plantations,  the  gathering  and 
handling  of  the  product  are  the  same  as  those  employed  in  the  coun- 
tries already  treated  of. 

Consul  Newell,  at  Managua,  in  his  report  dated  June  13,  1891, 
estimated  that  the  total  area  in  cultivation  of  coffee  in  Nicaragua 
amounts  to  about  28,000  acres.  He  further  states  that  the  amount  of 
public  lands  pre-empted  December  31,  1890,  was  about  48,000  acres, 
of  which  32,000  were  fit  for  coffee  cultivation.. 

The  greater  part  of  the  coffee  exported  goes  to  Europe.  This  is 
owing,  in  part,  to  the  fact  that  rates  of  freight  to  the  United  States 
are  higher,  and  in  part  to  the  better  facilities  offered  by  European 
houses  to  shippers  of  coffee. 

According  to  the  same  report,  there  were  at  that  date  in  the 
department  of  Matagalpa,  2,000,000  trees,  which,  in  the  beginning  of 
1893,  would  begin  to  produce.  His  estimate  that  these  trees  should 
produce  10,000,000  pounds  of  coffe  is  clearly  too  high,  since  such  a 
yield  would  require  an  annual  product  of  five  pounds  per  tree; 
whereas,  the  yield  per  tree,  as  estimated  in  another  part  of  the  same 
report,  is  about  one  pound. 

The  departments  of  Masaya,  Managua  and  Matagalpa,  appear  to 
contain  the  greater  of  the  lands  adapted  to  coffee  culture.  Out  of 
17,000  acres  of  land  pre-empted,  only  120  acres  were  not  suited  for 
coffee  plantations;  and  out  of  13,000  acres  in  Managua,  over  8000 
were  fit  for  coffee. 


COSTA    RICA. 


The  coffee  plant  was  introduced  into  Costa  Rica  in  1796,  and  its 
cultivation  there  has  been  continuous  since  that  time,  the  production 
gradually  and  constantly  increasing  under  the  Spanish  occupation  and 


COFFEE   IN    AMERICA.  23 

since  the  independence  of  the  country,  reaching  5000  tons  in  1861  and 
18,000  in  1884.  The  exports  of  coffee  in  1891  amounted  to  nearly 
$6,140,000.  Costa  Rica  coffee  is  of  a  superior  quality  and  commands 
the  highest  price  in  the  market.  It  is  largely  used  in  England. 

The  census  of  1890  showed  the  existence  of  8130  coffee  planta- 
tions, with  26,558,251  trees.  These  plantations  were  situated  at 
various  altitudes,  from  2500  to  5000  feet  above  sea  level,  but  the 
best  results  are  obtained  at  4000  feet. 

The  method  of  raising  the  young  plants  in  nurseries,  the  distance 
at  which  they  are  planted,  the  preparation  of  the  virgin  lands  for 
the  plantations,  and  the  subsequent  cultivation  of  the  trees,  are  the 
same  as  in  the  other  coffee  districts  of  the  Western  Continent. 

The  seed  beds  are  sown  in  May,  and  in  the  same  month  of  the 
following  year  are  set  in  the  plantations.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
a  few  berries  will  be  produced,  the  first  regular  crop  being  harvested 
the  following  season.  The  cultivation  of  other  crops  between  the 
rows  while  the  trees  are  young  is  practiced  to  some  extent,  as  else- 
where; the  banana,  or  a  quick-growing  tree  called  "  poro  bianco," 
being  used  to  shade  the  young  plants.  The  average  annual  cost  per 
acre  of  working  a  coffee  plantation  after  it  comes  into  bearing  is  esti- 
mated at  about  $6,  and  the  annual  yield  is  put  at  an  average  of  2500 
pounds  per  acre;  but  2000  pounds  is  a  safer  estimate. 

The  quincunx  order  of  planting  the  trees  in  the  plantations  of 
Costa  Rica  is  not  so  common  as  in  the  other  coffee  producing  coun- 
tries, notwithstanding  its  obvious  and  considerable  advantages. 

The  gathering,  which  goes  on  from  December  to  March,  is  done 
largely  by  women  and  children,  who  pick  the  berries  in  baskets  holding 
from  eighteen  to  twenty  quarts.  The  gatherers  are  paid  about  12 
cents  per  basket,  and  active  workers  can  fill  eight  to  ten  baskets  per 
day. 

The  provinces  of  San  Jose,  Alajuela,  Cartago  and  Heredia  and 
those  in  which  the  cultivation  of  coffee  is  most  extensively  pursued, 
and  in  all  these,  except  Cartago,  the  greater  part  of  the  available 
lands  are  already  occupied  by  plantations.  A  vast  extent  of  excel- 
lent coffee  lands  is  found  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  country  between 
Cartago  and  Reventazon,  and  are  said  to  be  even  better  than  those  of 
Heredia  and  San  Jose. 


24  COFFEE  IN   AMERICA. 

The  Costa  Rican  Government  encourages  the  settlement  of  for- 
eigners in  the  country  to  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  offers  lands 
at  very  low  prices,  considering  the  great  productiveness  of  their  soil. 
Public  lands  may  be  acquired  by  pre-emption,  in  tracts  of  not  less 
than  120  acres,  by  merely  fencing  them  and  giving  notice  to  the 
authorities  of  the  intention  of  the  occupant  to  put  them  under  culti- 
vation ;  and  if  the  cultivation  be  carried  on  for  two  years,  a  patent  of 
ownership  will  be  issued  to  the  holder,  and  he  may  inclose  and  claim 
in  the  same  manner  another  120  acres,  and  so  on. 

Lands  may  also  be  purchased,  in  areas  not  to  exceed  600  hectares 
for  each  person,  at  public  auction,  at  prices  varying  from  80  cents  to 
$2  per  acre,  according  to  locality,  quality,  irrigation  and  nature  of 
growth  on  them.  If  the  lands  at  these  prices  are  situated  more  than 
fifteen  miles  from  a  town  of  3000  inhabitants,  or  from  a  railroad,  these 
prices  will  be  reduced  one-half;  if  from  thirty  to  sixty  miles,  they 
will  be  sold  at  one-fourth,  and  if  more  than  sixty  miles,  at  one- 
eighth  the  prices  named.  These  lands  may  be  paid  for  in  cash  or  in  ten 
annual  instalments,  at  6  per  cent  interest.  If  at  any  time  the  pur- 
chaser shows  that  the  improvements  he  has  made  are  worth  double 
the  interest  due,  he  is  excused  from  payment  of  such  interest ;  and  if 
the  improvements  be  worth  twice  as  much  as  the  price  to  be  paid,  by 
the  terms  of  the  sale,  he  is  exempted  from  payment  of  all  interest  due. 


SALVADOR. 

Coffee  is  the  principal  production  of  this  country  and  amounts 
annually,  according  to  official  publication,  to  about  60,000,000  pounds. 
The  lands  most  productive  of  this  staple  are  situated  in  the  depart- 
ments of  Santa  Ana,  La  Libertad,  San  Salvador,  San  Vicente,  La 
Paz  and  San  Miguel.  The  great  profits  realized  in  coffee  raising  in 
these  departments  have  stimulated  the  opening  of  new  plantations  on 
a  large  scale 

As  in  the  other  Central  American  States,  an  altitude  of  about 
3000  feet  above  sea  level  is  preferred.  The  methods  of  preparing 
the  soil,  planting  the  trees,  cultivating  the  plantation,  gathering  the 
crop,  and  preparing  it  for  market,  are  the  same  as  are  followed  in  the 
neighboring  states. 


COFFEE  IN   AMERICA.  25 

Want  of  railroad  transportation  and  of  properly  constructed  roads, 
together  with  the  difficulty  of  securing  sufficient  laborers,  is  here,  as 
in  the  other  coffee  producing  States  of  America,  the  chief  obstacle 
to  enterprises  in  coffee  raising.  There  is  only  one  railroad  in  the 
country,  and  its  length  is  only  a  little  over  forty  miles.  Others  are 
projected,  but  it  must  be  many  years  before  the  coffee  producing  dis- 
tricts can  substitute  transportation  by  rail  for  mule  trains. 


COLOMBIA. 

The  exports  of  coffee  from  Colombia  in  1889  amounted  to  3,51 6,- 
293  pesos,  equivalent  to  about  $2,155,500  in  United  States  currency, 
and  in  1890,  the  exports  rose  to  $2,613,000,  showing  a  considerable 
increase  in  the  production,  and  being  larger  by  more  than  $1,000,000 
than  the  gold  exports,  which  come  next  in  value. 

The  profits  of  coffee  raising  in  Colombia  are  no  doubt  consider- 
able and  almost  certain,  when  the  proper  locality  is  selected  and  the 
necessary  capital  and  intelligent  management  are  employed  in  the 
establishment  of  the  plantations  and  their  subsequent  care  and  culti- 
vation. The  cost  of  the  land  for  setting  out  and  growing  100,000 
coffee  plants,  and  of  implements  and  cultivation  needed,  is  thus  esti- 
mated by  an  intelligent  American,  who  examined  various  localities 
and  studied  the  question  of  coffee  cultivation  on  the  spot : 

First  year #5,567 

Second  year 5.414 

Third  year i,754 

Fourth  year 3»ooo 

Machinery  for  cleaning  the  berries 2,000 

Total $17,735 

The  same  gentleman  gives  the  yield  of  the  coffee  tree  from  the 
third  year  forward  as  from  two  and  one-half  to  four  pounds  per  tree 
each  year.  This  estimate  is  probably  too  high,  but  even  at  one 
pound  per  tree  the  product  of  100,000  trees  would  be  worth  $20,000 
for  the  fourth  year,  at  20  cents  per  pound 

The  cost  of  transportation  from  Bogota  to  New  York  is  estimated 
at  2.9  cents  per  pound,  and  the  Estadistica  Mercantil  puts  the  cost  of 


26  COFFEE  IN   AMERICA. 

production  at  4^  cents  per  pound.  The  profit  is  thus  seen  to  be  very 
substantial. 

The  price  of  labor  is  low,  the  wages  of  a  day  laborer  being  about 
25  cents,  and  in  some  districts  children  are  employed  in  gathering 
coffee  at  the  low  wages  of  5  cents  per  day,  according  to  the  statement 
of  the  gentleman  before  alluded  to. 

The  coffee  plantations  of  Colombia  are  said  to  be  remarkably 
free  from  disease,  and  the  equatorial  situation  of  the  country  renders 
it  easy  to  find  localities  where  the  temperature  is  just  suited  to  the 
growth  of  the  coifee  tree,  and  but  slightly  variable.  It  is  simply  a 
question  of  altitude,  and  the  mountainous  character  of  the  surface 
facilitates  the  selection  of  the  proper  height  at  which  to  establish 
plantations. 

Irrigation  is  said  to  be  rarely  necessary  in  Colombia,  and  almost 
the  only  drawback  to  the  rapid  extension  of  coffee  planting  appears 
to  be  the  scarcity  of  labor,  the  adequate  supply  of  which  is  the  only 
great  unsolved  problem  that  confronts  all  proposed  enterprises  in 
Central  and  South  America. 

Many  plantations  produce  in  the  third  year  almost  enough  to 
pay  for  the  expense  of  the  cultivation  up  to  that  time. 

The  plants  are  set  about  nine  feet  apart,  so  that  an  acre  will 
contain  about  460  trees.  The  manner  of  cultivation,  pruning,  gather- 
ing and  cleaning,  is  almost  the  same  as  prevails  in  the  coffee- 
producing  countries  already  treated  of,  and  needs  not  to  be  repeated 
here. 

The  districts  in  which  coffee  is  profitably  produced  lie  at  alti- 
tudes varying  from  1500  to  5000  feet  above  sea  level ;  but  the  tree 
thrives  and  produces  best  at  the  mean  of  these  two  extremes.  Con- 
siderable quantities  of  coffee  are  gathered  by  the  Indians  from  trees 
that  grow  wild  on  the  mountain  slopes ;  and  this  coffee  is  the  same  as 
that  produced  in  the  cultivated  plantations,  except  that  the  size  of 
the  berries  is  generally  smaller. 

The  consul-general  of  the  United  States  at  Panama  states,  in  a 
report  to  his  Government,  dated  April  8,  1891,  that  there  is  no  limit 
to  the  amount  of  land  that  may  be  acquired  by  settlement  and  culti- 
vation in  the  Department  of  Panama.  Every  person  occupying 
uncultivated  public  lands  for  agricultural  purposes  acquires  the  right 
of  property  in  the  land  he  cultivates,  whatever  its  extent ;  and  if  such 


COFFEE   IN    AMERICA.  27 

occupation  be  made  by  the  establishment  of  coffee  plantations,  the 
settler  has  the  right  to  claim  an  extent  of  land  adjoining  equal  to 
that  already  occupied. 

Sr.  Climaco  Calderon,  the  consul-general  of  Colombia  in  New 
York,  referring  to  Colombia  in  general,  says  :  "  The  government  of 
Colombia  does  not  offer  special  inducements  to  immigration.  Bona 
fide  immigrants  are  allowed  in  Colombia  twenty -five  hectares  (about 
sixty  acres)  of  public  land  and  the  importation,  duty  free,  of  all  the 
implements  and  tools  of  their  trade  and  profession." 


VENEZUELA. 

Venezuela  ranks  next  to  Brazil,  and,  therefore,  second  among  the  *<t/ 
coffee  producing  countries  of  America.  The  exports  of  that  product 
in  1890  amounted  to  71,167,850  bolivars,  or  $13,685,577  in  United 
States  currency.  The  importance  of  coffee  culture  in  the  country  is 
seen  when  it  is  known  that  this  amount  was  about  three  times  the 
value  of  all  the  other  exports  combined. 

That  large  districts  in  Venezuela  are  admirably  suited  for  the 
growth  of  coffee  is  thus  placed  beyond  a  doubt,  and  the  production 
already  reached  promises  to  make  this  Republic  some  day  a  rival  of 
the  great  country  on  her  southern  border. 

The  first  coffee  planted  in  Venezuela  was  near  Caracas,  in  1784, 
and  the  seed  from  these  first  plants,  distributed  through  the  country, 
formed  the  beginnings  of  the  future  plantations.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  lands  already  occupied  by  these  plantations  amount  to  346,000 
acres,  containing  about  168,000,000  trees. 

A  large  portion  of  the  mountainous  part  of  the  country,  in  the 
northern  part,  is  well  suited  to  coffee  raising,  and  can  be  brought 
under  cultivation  with  no  greater  expense  than  lands  in  the  other 
countries  that  produce  the  plant. 

The  coffee  of  Venezuela  is  undoubtedly  of  as  good  quality  as 
that  of  the  neighboring  countries.  It  may  be  remarked  that  here,  as 
well  as  elsewhere,  it  is  the  same  plant,  the  same  species,  the  same 
variety,  that  produces  nine-tenths  of  the  American  coffee,  and  that, 
as  in  the  hotter  countries,  a  higher  altitude  is  necessary  than  in  the 
cooler;  or,  in  other  words,  about  the  same  temperature  is  necessary 
^or  its  profitable  production,  and  about  the  same  qualities  of  soil,  the 


28  COFFEE  IN  AMERICA. 

quality  of  the  coffee  produced  depends  more  on  the  seasons,  the  cul- 
tivation, and  handling  than  on  any  special  adaptability  possessed 
by  any  country  within  the  coffee  zone. 

About  the  same  altitude  is  necessary  for  successful  results  as  in 
Colombia,  and  the  same  mode  of  establishing  the  plantations  pre- 
vails, except  that  the  trees  are  planted  rather  closer  together  than  in 
Brazil  and  Central  America.  A  gentleman  who  has  resided  many 
years  in  Venezuela  estimates  that  about  676  trees  are  contained  on  an 
acre,  and  that  the  average  product  per  tree  is  one  pound.  He  states 
the  cost  of  handling  and  preparing  for  market  at  about  $5.40 
per  bag  of  no  pounds,  and  the  selling  price  at  $17  to  $21 — giving  a 
profit  of  over  $13  per  bag.  This  would  give  a  profit  of  about  $75 
per  acre  for  the  plantation.  The  adoption  of  the  modern  improved 
machinery  for  the  cleaning  and  drying  of  the  berries,  by  lessen- 
ing the  cost  of  handling,  and  the  amount  of  inferior  coffee,  will 
doubtless  increase  the  profits  of  coffee  raising  in  Venezuela,  as  it  has 
done  in  other  countries. 

Under  a  decree  signed  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1893,  several 
provisions  were  made  by  the  government  of  Venezuela  for  the 
encouragement  of  immigration.  Under  this  decree  immigrants  are 
divided  as  follows  : 

First.  Immigrants  without  contract,  coming  in  search  of  some 
occupation  in  this  country. 

Second.  Immigrants  coming  under  contract  between  themselves 
and  the  government  of  some  one  of  the  States. 

Third.  Immigrants  coming  under  contracts  between  themselves 
and  private  individuals  or  companies. 

Fourth.  Immigrants  under  contract  to  work  in  colonies  belonging 
to  private  persons  on  vacant  public  lands. 

Fifth.  Immigrants  under  contract  to  work  in  colonies  belonging 
to  private  persons  on  their  own  private  lands. 

Sixth.  Immigrants  under  contract  to  work  under  the  direct 
management  of  the  government. 

A  board  of  immigration  was  created  to  carry  out  the  decree. 
The  board  is  known  by  the  name,  "Central  Board  of  Immigration," 
and  may  establish  subordinate  boards  throughout  the  Republic. 

For  the   purpose  of    promoting   immigration,    the    government 


COFFKE   IN   AMERICA.  29 

grants  all  immigrants  voluntarily  coming  to  the  country  the  follow- 
ing assistance  : 

First.  The  payment  of  their  passage,  both  by  sea  and  land,  from 
the  place  of  embarkation  to  any  of  the  main  immigrant  depots.  The 
national  government  may  also  pay  the  passage  of  the  immigrants 
from  the  place  of  residence  to  place  of  embarkation. 

Second.  Payment  of  landing  expenses  and  board  and  lodging  of 
the  immigrants  for  thirty  days  after  arrival. 

Third.  Admission,  free  of  duty,  of  their  wearing  apparel, 
domestic  utensils  and  instruments  of  their  calling. 

Fourth.  Exemption  from  the  payment  of  any  fees  for  passports 
given  them. 

Special  provisions  are  made  for  the  care  of  the  immigrants,  who 
are  guaranteed  all  the  rights  accorded  by  law  to  aliens,  and  if  they 
choose  to  be  naturalized,  they  shall  be  exempt  from  military  service 
during  the  whole  of  their  lives,  except  only  in  case  of  foreign  war. 

Special  provisions  are  made  in  behalf  of  individuals  and  com- 
panies organizing  colonies  for  settlement  in  Venezuela. 

The  manner  of  making  contracts  with  immigrants  is  carefully 
guarded  in  this  decree. 

Such  immigrants  as  may  purchase  public  lands  during  the  first 
two  years  of  their  residence  in  the  Republic  shall  not  be  bound  to 
pay  the  price  thereof  until  after  the  expiration  of  four  years,  counted 
from  the  day  on  which  they  enter  into  actual  possession  of  the  pur- 
chased land  ;  but  they  will  net  be  allowed  to  sell  or  transfer  said 
land  during  this  period. 

The  patent,  or  title  of  ownership,  shall  not  be  delivered  to  the 
immigrant  until  after  he  has  paid  the  stipulated  price  and  given  suffi- 
cient proof  both  of  his  residence  on  the  tract  of  land  referred  to,  and 
of  his  having  put  the  same  under  cultivation. 

The  prices  to  be  charged  under  the  decree  for  national  lands  are 
as  follows  :  For  agricultural  lands,  $3.12  per  acre,  and  $386  per  square 
league  for  pasture  lands,  or  lands  suitable  for  raising  cattle. 

Special  provisions  are  made  for  the  colonization  of  public  lands 
by  private  individuals  and  companies. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  provisions  of  this  land  law  are 
especially  favorable  to  immigrants  and  parties  seeking  investments 
in  any  industry  that  may  be  profitably  carried  on  in  the  Republic. 


30  COFFEE  IN  AMERICA. 

BRAZIL. 

In  1891  the  exports  of  coffee  from  Rio  de  Janeiro  alone  were  425, 
055,000,  valued  at  $42,500,000  at  10  cents  per  pound.  The  exports 
from  Santos  are  usually  about  one-half  of  those  from  Rio,  and  from 
these  two  ports  the  bulk  of  the  coffee  sent  abroad  is  exported.  The 
magnitude  of  the  coffee  growing  interests  in  Brazil,  and  its  impor- 
tance in  maintaining  the  national  wealth  and  credit,  may  be  esti- 
mated when  it  is  considered  that  the  United  States  alone  paid  to 
Brazil  for  her  coffee  in  1891  more  that  $45,000,000. 

The  profitable  cultivation  of  coffee  in  Brazil  is  confined  to  the 
four  states  of  Bspiritu  Santo,  Minas-Geraes,  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Sao 
Paulo.  It  is  produced  as  far  north  as  Para  and  in  considerable  quan- 
tities in  Ceara,  but  the  yield  is  less  and  the  quality  inferior  to  that  of 
the  product  of  the  famous  zone  comprised  in  the  four  states  just  men- 
tioned. The  growth  of  coffee  culture  has  been  natural  and  remark- 
ably rapid.  No  favors  from  the  government,  such  as  have  been 
given  to*sugar  production,  no  inducements  to  immigration  on  the  part 
of  national  or  state  governments  have  contributed  to  the  remark- 
able development  of  this  great  agricultural  interest;  but  the  natural 
adaptation -of  the  soil  and  the  growing  demand  for  this  staple  have 
been  sufficient  to  increase  its  exportation  from  thirteen  bags  in  1800 
to  the  enormous  quantities  that  annually  load  the  vessels  of  all  nations 
in  the  ports  of  Rio  and  Santos.  The  facilities  for  transportation  from 
the  interior  to  the  coast  have  been  a  great  factor  in  this  increase,  no 
doubt,  as  well  as  the  moderate  rates  of  freight  on  the  railroads  that 
have  their  termini  in  these  ports. 

The  plantations  are  generally  made  on  hillsides,  from  which  the 
heavy  forest  growth  has  been  cleared  by  felling  the  trees  and  burn- 
ing off  the  undergrowth.  The  valuable  logs  are  sometimes  sawed  on 
the  spot  into  boards  and  planks ;  sometimes  burned,  after  drying,  and 
sometimes  allowed  to  lie  on  the  ground  and  decay.  The  latter 
method  is  perhaps  the  best,  as  the  logs  contain  the  wealth  of  the  soil 
accumulated  during  years,  which  is  thus  returned  to  it  again.  As  the 
cultivation  is  done  altogether  with  hoe,  spade  and  mattock,  these 
decaying  trunks  are  not  so  much  in  the  way  as  might  be  supposed. 
All  the  vegetable  growth  that  can  be  kept  on  the  ground  and  does 
not  interfere  with  the  growing  coffee  trees  aids  in  preventing  the 


COFFEE   IN    AMERICA.  31 

washing  away  of  the  mold  from  the  soil,  which  a  bare  cultivation 
would  carry  off  in  a  few  years. 

A  plantation,  properly  managed,  lasts  for  about  thirty  years  in 
profitable  bearing,  and  by  that  time  the  soil  is  worn  out,  as  is 
attested  by  the  many  bald,  red  hills  to  be  found  in  the  older  culti- 
vated districts  of  the  coffee  zone. 

The  young  plants  are  sometimes  raised  in  seed  beds,  as  described 
in  speaking  of  coffee  culture  in  Mexico  :  sometimes  young  shoots 
from  the  roots  of  old  trees  are  employed,  and  sometimes  the  more 
expensive,  but  better,  method  is  resorted  to  of  raising  each  plant  in 
a  separate  earthen  pot,  whence,  at  one  year  old,  it  is  transplanted  with 
all  the  earth  about  its  roots  to  its  permanent  location.  Long  rows  of 
these  pots  with  their  plants,  set  on  a  slope,  over  which  water  is  con- 
stantly running,  and  protected  from  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun  by  matting 
stretched  on  poles  above  them,  may  be  seen  on  the  plantations  where 
the  best  methods  are  employed.  The  system  is  costly,  but  about  a 
year  is  gained  in  the  growth  of  the  trees,  and  the  plants,  receiving 
no  check  by  transplanting,  rarely  need  replacing.  It  has  been  found 
advantageous  also  to  select  the  very  best  grains  for  seed,  and  some 
planters  have  succeeded  in  establishing  improved  and  distinct  varie- 
ties, by  repeated  reproduction  from  the  same  kinds  of  seed. 

Nowhere  in  the  world  is  greater  attention  given  to  the  cultivation 
and  handling  of  coffee  than  in  Brazil,  and  nowhere  else  is  improved 
machinery  for  the  preparation  of  the  crop  for  market  so  generally 
employed.  It  is  the  fashion  in  praising  the  coffee  of  other  countries 
to  describe  it  as  superior  to  the  Brazilian,  but  no  permanent  advan- 
tage is  gained  by  unjust  comparisons,  for  they  are  against  the 
facts.  The  truth  is  that  no  coffee  anywhere  in  the  world  is  superior 
to  the  Brazilian,  which  is  sold  everywhere  as  Java,  Mocha,  Mara- 
caibo,  etc.,  at  the  fancy  of  the  dealer  and  whim  of  the  consumer. 
Every  plantation  in  the  country  produces  the  Java  and  Mocha  of  the 
markets  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is  only  an  affair  of  sieves  of 
differently  sized  meshes  to  classify. the  products  of  Brazilian  planta- 
tions into  the  falsely  named  kinds,  in  order  to  demand  a  higher  price 
from  the  buyer.  These  facts  can  not  be  controverted  any  more  than 
can  the  other  truth  that  no  country  produces  coffee  superior  to  that 
of  Brazil.  The  coffee  with  a  small,  round  grain,  called,  generally, 
"pea-berry,"  and  sold  in  the  United  States  as  "Mocha,"  is  produced 


if 

32  COFFKK  IN   AMERICA. 

by  topping  and  severely  pruning  the  ordinary  plant,  although  many 
such  grains  will  always  be  found  on  trees  treated  in  the  usual  manner. 

While  the  young  trees  are  growing,  crops  of  corn  or  mandioca  are 
sometimes  raised  between  the  rows,  which  are  planted  in  the 
quincunx  order,  and  these  crops  are  sometimes  sufficient  to  repay  the 
expenses  of  the  plantation.  At  the  age  of  four  years  the  trees  are 
about  six  feet  high  and  in  profitable  bearing,  The  principal  gathering 
month  is  November,  and  then  every  available  hand  is  engaged  in  pick- 
ing the  berries  in  baskets.  The  average  result  of  a  day's  gathering  for 
each  person  is  enough  to  produce  about  fifty  pounds  of  dried  coffee. 
The  baskets  are  emptied  of  their  contents  into  carts  which  convey  the 
berries  to  the  mill -house,  where  they  are  to  be  prepared  for  market. 

The  berry  resembles  very  closely  the  cranberry,  and  contains  two 
grains  with  their  flattened  sides  toward  each  other.  Each  of  the  two 
is  covered  with  a  closely  adhering  membrane  called  pergaminho,  and 
outside  of  this  is  a  thicker  and  more  loosely  fitting  coat  called  cas- 
quinho.  The  two  grains  with  their  coverings  are  contained  in  a  tough 
shell  called  casco,  and  this  is  surrounded  by  a  white  pulp  and  outer 
skin,  thus  forming  the  berry. 

To  prepare  the  coffee  for  market,  all  these  coverings  must  be 
removed.  The  outer  pulp  is  removed,  after  maceration  in  water,  by  a 
machine  called  despolpador,  which  consists  of  a  revolving  iron  cylinder 
set  with  teeth  and  covered  on  one  side  by  a  concave  sheet  of  metal. 

A  trough  lined  with  cement  is  placed  on  a  hillside  above  the  mill, 
and  through  it  a  stream  of  water  is  kept  running.  Into  this  the  coffee 
berries  are  thrown  and  are  carried  down  by  the  stream  into  a  large 
.vat.  In  this  vat  the  heavier  berries  sink  to  the  bottom,  whence  they 
are  drawn  off  through  a  pipe  to  the  despolpador.  This  machine 
removes  the  pulp,  the  berries  passing  with  the  water  to  another  vat 
beyond.  In  this  the  water  is  kept  in  constant  motion  by  a  revolving 
wheel,  and  the  pulp  is  thus  thoroughly  washed  off  and  carried  away 
with  the  water,  while  the  coffee  grains  sink  to  the  bottom  ;  and  thence 
passing  to  a  strainer  the  water  is  all  drained  off,  leaving  them  ready 
for  the  process  of  drying. 

Two  methods  of  drying  are  in  use  ;  the  old  process,  which  con- 
sists in  spreading  the  grains  on  a  cement-covered  pavement  called 
terreiro,  where  they  are  allowed  to  dry  in  the  sun.  For  this  about  two 
months  are  necessary,  and  the  grains  have  to  be  raked  over  and 


COFFEE  IN   AMERICA.  33 

turned  during  the  day  and  gathered  into  piles  and  covered  at  night. 
Whenever  a  shower  comes  up  the  coffee  must  also  be  covered.  The 
more  modern  and  satisfactory  process  of  drying  by  steam  is  employed 
on  many  of  the  larger  plantations.  By  this  process  the  drying,  which 
by  the  old  method  requires  about  sixty  days,  is  accomplished  in  a  few 
hours,  with  a  vast  economy  of  labor.  Under  this  system  drying  is 
done  in  large,  shallow  pans  of  zinc  heated  by  steam  coils  beneath. 
This  process  will,  doubtless,  on  large  plantations,  supersede  the  older 
and  more  expensive  method.  The  drying  is  done  more  uniformly 
and  with  no  danger  of  injury  from  sudden  rain. 

The  coffee,  after  drying,  is  still  inclosed  in  the  inner  and  outer 
skins,  which  have  been  rendered  more  brittle  by  the  drying.  The 
machinery  necessary  for  the  removal  of  this  is  somewhat  complicated 
and  expensive.  The  most  efficient  of  the  machines  in  use  are  from 
the  United  States,  and  a  complete  plant  for  a  large  plantation  will 
cost  not  less  than  $25,000.  The  coffee  is  brought  from  the  drying 
house  and  placed  in  bins,  whence,  by  an  eleyator  band,  it  is  carried 
to  a  ventilator,  where  it  is  rid  of  rubbish  and  dust  by  sifting  and 
fanning.  From  the  ventilator  the  coffee  is  carried  to  the  sheller 
(descascador),  which  consists  of  a  toothed  cylinder,  by  whose  rapid 
revolutions  the  outer  and  inner  husks  are  broken.  The  grains  and 
broken  husks  are  carried  by  a  pipe  to  a  second  ventilator,  where  the 
latter  are  sifted  out  and  fanned  away,  and  the  former  are  carried  by 
an  elevator  to  the  separator.  This  is  composed  of  hollow  copper 
cylinders,  pierced  with  holes  of  different  shapes  and  sizes.  These 
cylinders  are  kept  constantly  revolving,  and  the  coffee  grains,  passing 
through  the  holes,  fall  into  separate  bins,  being  thus  assorted  according 
to  their  size  and  shape. 

The  coffee  thus  mechanically  classified  goes  into  the  markets, 
of  the  world,  where  it  is  sold,  the  small,  round  grains  as  Mocha,  the 
large  flat  grains  as  Java,  and  so  on,  until  all  the  coffee-producing 
countries  are  represented  in  all  the  corner  groceries  of  the  world  by 
the  product  of  a  single  Brazilian  plantation. 

A  small  portion  of  the  pergaminho  which  still  remains  is  removed 
by  the  brunidor  (polisher)  by  trituration  and  fanning.  Finally,  after 
passing  through  all  this  series  of  machines  the  coffee  is  carefully 
picked  over  by  hand  and  is  ready  to  be  put  into  bags. 

Although  immense  tracts  of  land  suitable  for  coffee  culture  yet 
remain  unoccupied,  nearly  all  of  them  are  held  by  large  land  owners 


34  COFFEE  IN  AMERICA. 

who  generally  refuse  to  sell.  As  there  is  no  tax  on  land  and  a  con 
siderable  one  on  land  sales,  the  owners  prefer  to  hold  them,  as  the 
constant  demand  for  coffee  lands  annually  enhances  their  value, 
and  they  can  be  held  with  no  expense  to  their  owners.  Good 
coffee  lands  when  sold  bring  large  prices,  and  no  person  can  engage 
in  coffee  raising  without  considerable  capital.  As  has  been  said  the 
coffee  zone  embraces  the  states  of  Bspirito  Santo,  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Minas-Geraes  and  Sao  Paulo,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  un- 
occupied public  lands  are  situated  in  the  other  states. 

Under  the  new  constitution  of  Brazil  all  wild  lands  formerly4 
belonging  to  the   Empire  are  declared   to  be  the   property  of  the 
states  within  whose  limits  they  lie,  and  their  sale  is  governed  by  the 
various  regulations  established  by  the  respective  legislatures. 


ECUADOR. 

Coffee  is  the  third  in  value  of  the  exports  of  Ecuador,  though 
its  production  has  not  reached  the  importance  attained  in  most  of  the 
other  coffee -producing  States  of  America.  But  little  information 
concerning  its  cultivation  has  been  accessible  to  this  Bureau,  but  it 
may  be  said  that  the  methods  of  planting,  cultivating  and  gathering 
are  the  same  as  in  the  neighboring  countries. 

There  are,  undoubtedly,  large  bodies  of  lands  in  the  Republic 
suitable  for  coffee  culture,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a 
report  submitted  to  the  Congress  of  Ecuador,  states  that  the  govern- 
ment possesses  vast  tracts  of  great  fertility  that  are  valueless  for 
want  of  occupants.  These  lands  lie  on  the  eastern  and  the  western 
slopes  of  the  Andes  and  their  difficulty  of  access  is  the  chief  obstacle 
to  their  settlement.  The  price  of  public  lands  sold  by  the  govern- 
ment is  from  20  to  80  cents  per  acre,  and  not  more  than  500  acres 
will  be  sold  at  one  time  to  one  individual. 


BOLIVIA. 

Bolivia  must  be  reckoned  among  the  coffee -producing  countries 
of  America,  and  although  the  exportation  of  that  product  has  not 
reached  the  proportions  attained  in  some  of  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries, the  quality  is  of  undeniable  excellence.  Mention  may  be  made 
of  the  famous  coffee  of  Yungas  which  rivals  the  Mocha  in  excellence. 

The  coffee -producing  lands  are  situated  in  the  province  qf  Puna- 


COFFEE  IN  AMERICA.  35 

taand  in  the  departments  of  Santa  Cruz,  Veni  and  La  Paz.  The 
mountainous  character  of  the  country,  while  favorable  in  many 
respects  to  the  selection  of  sites  for  coffee  plantations,  renders  trans- 
portation so  difficult  that  it  constitutes  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  open- 
ing of  lands,  and  the  day  is  probably  distant  when  the  steam  car 
shall  take  the  place  of  the  slew  mule  train.  The  same  methods  of 
opening  and  cultivating  coffee  plantations  prevail  here  as  in  the  other 
coffee -raising  countries  and  their  production  is  about  the  same;  but 
no  statistics  are  available  to  show  the  price  of  labor  and  other 
expenses  of  handling  and  marketing. 


THE    GUIANAS    AND    WEST    INDIES. 

The  Guianas  and  most  of  the  larger  West  India  Islands  produce 
greater  or  less  quantities  of  coffee.  In  the  year  1890-91  the  island 
of  Jamaica  exported  coffee  to  the  amount  of  $1,381,114,  and  Puerto 
Rico  to  the  value  of  4,858,306  pesos;  in  1888  Guadalupe  exported 
905,368  francs' worth.  Coffee  culture  was  formerly  an  important 
interest  in  Martinique.  It  is  probable  that  no  great  increase  in  the 
coffee  product  of  the  West  Indies  is  to  be  looked  for  for  many  years, 
and  the  markets  of  the  world  must  continue  to  obtain  their  supplies 
from  the  continental  countries  treated  of  in  the  foregoing  pages. 


JAMAICA 

Exports  annually  from  800,000  to  900,000  pounds  of  coffee.  The 
value  of  the  exports  of  this  article  in  1891  was  about  one-sixth  of  the 
total  export.  More  than  half  the  coffee  exported  is  taken  by  the 
United  States,  but  consists  chiefly  of  the  lower  grades,  the  better  and 
higher-priced  qualities  going  to  England.  The  best  coffee  of  the 
island  is  raised  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  parishes  of  St.  Andrew 
and  St.  Thomas,  and  goes  almost  entirely  to  England.  The  coffee  of 
Jamaica,  like  that  of  Haiti,  is  of  fair  quality,  a  little  stronger  than 
Java  and  milder  than  Rio.  The  greater  part  of  the  product  is  raised 
by  negroes,  who  own  from  one -half  an  acre  to  five  acres  of  ground, 
where  the  trees  are  planted  without  order  or  system  and  receive 
little  attention. 

The   number  of  plantations  where  as  much  as  fifty  acres  are 
cultivated  in  coffee  is  only  thirty.     In  the  preparation  of  the  coffee 


36  COFFEE  IN   AMERICA. 

for  market,  the  most  primitive  means  are  employed,  the  cost  of 
machinery  for  that  purpose  being  beyond  the  means  of  the  small 
growers.  The  berries,  after  picking,  are  dried  on  the  ground,  and 
the  outer  skins  are  removed  by  beating  in  large  wooden  mortars. 
On  the  larger  plantations  more  care  is  given  to  the  preparation  of 
the  ground,  and  the  plants  are  set  at  regular  distances,  generally  six 
feet  apart.  Being  planted  so  near  together,  it  is  necessary  to  top  the 
trees  when  they  reach  the  height  of  about  four  feet,  and  by  annual 
pruning  to  keep  them  from  crowding  each  other.  The  plantations 
are  weeded  with  a  hoe  at  least  four  times  every  year,  as  without  this 
weeding  the  ground  would  soon  be  overgrown  with  grass  and  plants 
that  spring  up  with  marvelous  rapidity  in  that  tropical  climate. 

Jamaica  appears  not  to  offer  any  inducements  to  settlers  proposing 
to  embark  in  coffee  culture.  Lands  suitable  for  the  growing  of  coffee 
on  a  large  scale  are  difficult  to  obtain,  and  suitable  labor  still  more  so. 


HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS. 

Coffee  has  been  raised  in  Hawaii  and  the  other  islands  of  the 
group  for  many  years,  although  the  production  has  varied  greatly  and 
has  never  been  sufficient  to  supply  home  consumption.  It  appears  from 
the  records  of  the  custom-house  that  in  1870  the  exportation  amounted 
to  4i5,in-pounds,  and  in  1885  fell  to  1675  pounds.  For  nine  months 
of  1892  the  exportation  was  13,098  pounds.  The  total  exportation 
since  1881  has  been  215,782  against  an  importation  of  877,409  pounds. 

New  enterprises  are  on  foot  for  the  planting  of  lands  in  coffee. 
In  the  Hamakua  and  North  Hilo  districts,  about  170  acres  are  already 
planted.  In  the  district  of  Puna  about  100  acres  are  growing,  and  it 
is  estimated  that  about  1300  acres  are  planted  in  coffee  on  the  island 
of  Hawaii.  These  are  mostly  new  plantations,  the  greater  part  of 
which  will  soon  come  into  bearing. 

'The  first  plantations  made  in  the  island  were  only  a  few  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  to  this  fact  may,  perhaps,  be  attributed  the  blight 
which  almost  destroyed  their  production  about  1860,  since  the  plan- 
tations more  recently  established  at  an  elevation  of  1000  and  upwards 
have  been  almost  entirely  free  from  blight.  The  high  rate  of  wages, 
the  cost  of  transportation  and  the  difficulty  of  buying  or  leasing  suit- 
able land  for  a  long  term  are  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  coffee -producing  capacity  of  the  islands. 


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